WP: Partisan Politics at Work Criticized (Fed. employees used as 'prop')

[kskiska]

Federal Employees Used as a 'Prop' in Bush Reelection Campaign in Violation of Hatch Act, Union Charges

Military and civilian employees at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque received an unusual e-mail inviting them to attend an Aug. 26 campaign rally for President Bush.

"The White House has extended an invitation to TEAM KIRTLAND to attend President Bush's speech downtown at the Convention Center," read the message, sent by Deborah Mercurio, the director of public affairs for the 377th Air Base Wing. "Doors open at 12:00 p.m. and no one is to arrive later than 2:00 p.m. For those interested, please stop by the Wing PA office for tickets."

To Mercurio, the e-mail, which cautioned military personnel not to wear their uniforms or represent themselves as attending in their official military capacity, amounted to nothing more than a nice gesture by the White House to provide the base's workers with a chance to see their commander in chief.

To federal employee unions, it represented the latest attempt by the Bush administration and its supporters to transform what is supposed to be a politically neutral federal bureaucracy into an arm of the president's reelection campaign. Bush spent the day touting his record in three cities across the battleground state, which he lost by 366 votes four years ago.

"They basically rounded up the people and told the military, 'Don't wear your uniforms and get over to the convention center and root for the president,' " said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union. The "party, the administration, whoever, just seems to be using our military and our civil service as a prop for campaign events.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6892-2004Oct4.html

[bleedingheart]

1. When your support is limited you invite the workers to attend...

My mother's neighbor said that her bro-in-law is constantly getting emailed to attend functions where they want to have a decent head count...it is pathetic.

[teryang]

2. I guess he can't roll out the steaks and kegs like Jeb

...does.

[johncoby2]

3. Hell. They do it with our NASA astronauts in Houston!!!

They will do anything to win!!!

[Philostopher]

4. Hmmmmm...

This makes me wonder about the Bush* rally in Cincinnati where they claimed 50k. Wonder how many of them were people from Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton to whom it was 'strongly suggested' they go? Not that there arent 50,000 borg in southwest Ohio they could have rounded up, but I do wonder how many of them were federal employees from WPAFB, now that I read this.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Why is this on page A23, and not on page A1? At least, it's reported...

by the WP.

[Supersedeas]

6. Federal prop's looking quite unofficial--AS INSTRUCTED

your tax dollars at work folks

[Treaghon]

7. This is where George Lucas could come in handy.

... Instead of the costly use of real people, cardboard cutouts and CGI can effectively be employed to create a vast sea of immeasurable throngs.

But really, my father is a postal employee (federal) and can clearly see the Pub's attempts at privatizing our postal system. Which means they would be able to charge ghastly amounts of money for which, at the moment, they have to go before congress to approve just a one cent raise in stamps.

He see's this, but bites his tongue because of the Hatch Act. If it were me? I just might go "postal".